Council adopts time‑based shared‑parking amendment to off‑street parking code

The Flower Mound Town Council unanimously adopted code amendments to allow time‑based shared parking as an option in the town’s off‑street parking standards. Planner Lehi presented the amendment and explained that time‑based shared parking lets a single parking space serve multiple land uses with different peak demand periods (for example, offices during weekdays and restaurants in evenings), reducing the need for excessive parking lots.

Staff described a local study that used hand counts, drone footage and aerial observations across multiple months and locations (108 days, roughly 36,000 cars observed across about 120 sites) to derive local peak‑demand patterns and recommended ratios. The staff analysis uses the 85th‑percentile of observed peak hour occupancy to set shared‑parking requirements and showed the approach could typically reduce required parking by an additional proportion beyond the town’s current 20% administrative reduction — the team cited model runs indicating about a 31% reduction in some examples.

The ordinance (amendments to Section 80‑2‑273 and 80‑2‑284) allows shared parking where two or more different land uses in the same development demonstrate complementary peak hours; it requires a written shared‑parking agreement when uses cross property lines and makes the town a party to that agreement to ensure enforceability. Projects can still use the town’s base code or pursue a Planned Development with a tailored study; staff said existing shared‑parking agreements and previously negotiated standards would remain effective.

Council members questioned breakfast‑oriented restaurants and enforcement of operating hours; staff said projects with atypical hours could pursue project‑specific PDs and that the new rules were intended as a base model to make shared parking more accessible for smaller developments. The measure passed on a unanimous roll call vote.